a triangular chisel

I've often mentioned the change in my mental outlook that, like a patient chisel, gradually broke the bedrock of my original religious views. But it's been some time since I simply stated what that mental outlook is. I like to imagine it as a triangle: each of its three parts actively props up the others. I identify it as Pragmatism-ish; it's too colored by my own preferences and too poorly laid out to rise to the level of Pragmatist philosophy. The three parts are

• Ideas. Ideas are never in short supply, because people create ideas so naturally. This is good, but it comes with the inherent problem that ideas need not be connected to anything at all in order to exist. Ideas come in bewildering varieties of fiction and nonfiction, bare truths and elaborate lies, wild speculations and careful theories, literal confessions and metaphorical stories. Being too quick to grant credence to any idea in isolation is a fool's error, even if the idea is coming from a self-described Truth-teller. Unfortunately, even linking one incorrect idea to another incorrect idea isn't necessarily a path to truth. The ideas must be linked to something outside...
• Realities. In contrast to the ocean of ideas that people swim in, realities are scarcer and more difficult to obtain. Plus, all people encounter realities through the "lens of themselves". Each person is finite and they're able to think outside themselves only by significant effort. Therefore, at least by default, a person's proposed realities can't be assumed to be completely objective. The objectivity of a reality is a quality that needs to be demonstrated. And just because one idea is a firmly demonstrated objective reality, we can't assume that every follow-up idea someone has about that reality is as objective. (Side remark: Pragmatism-ish is a set of very general observations about what it's like to be a person existing in the world. It's real to the extent that the observations are good summaries of those experiences.)
• Actions/Outcomes. If the domain of ideas is distinct from the domain of realities, yet people don't have a reliable inborn "sense" for the overlap between the two domains, then what can people do to rectify this? The answer is they can take action. When they act according to an idea, the outcome is a clue for the connection between the idea and realities. The twist here is that the innocent term "action" covers an oddly broad range. Following a logical argument is an action. Opening one's eyes and interpreting what one sees is an action. Reading an article is an action. Calculating statistics is an action. Predicting a result based on one or more causes is action. And judging the outcome's meaning and significance is too, of course.

The consistent use of the triangle leads to a few consequences. One is that each point of the triangle is kind of flimsy without the others to give it structure. An idea detached from realities and actions isn't that convincing. A so-called reality that is beyond the comprehension of ideas, or a reality that has no impact on anything people do, isn't convincing either. Neither is an action that's carried out without reference to anything thoughtful or real, such as a mysterious ritual or superstition. Like a cord of three strands (mixed metaphors ahoy!), the whole self-reinforcing triangle is stronger than its points. Prioritizing mind over matter or vice-versa would be a mistake.

A second major consequence is that actions can take many different shapes, so outcomes can take many different shapes, so the ideas found to be realities can take many different shapes. The degree of confidence can vary greatly too. This is the reason that we describe realities more than we describe "Reality". In the same way, we describe truths more than we describe "Truth", or we say an idea is more accurate or less accurate than another.

Finally, the consequence of this outlook is that progress tends to be incremental. Even an action that seems to be a clear confirmation could be misleading in the long run. Individual actions aren't generally that grand, and people cope by repeating and accumulating outcomes from such little actions. There isn't a hotline that we can pick up and instantly receive whatever perfect truths we seek. A truth is more like a brick building that we must construct layer by layer, and the materials we have to build with are nothing special.

Some ideas fit into this triangle closely. Some coexist with it in a somewhat neutral fashion. And some...frankly seem to almost be at war with it, and ultimately the triangle chips away at the ideas' core meaningfulness. The more that an idea doesn't seem to connect up well with realities or actions, the more someone may be prompted to ponder what the idea means exactly.